BYERS, BEARS BLITZ PHANTOMS

January 18, 2015

HERSHEY, Pa. – Dane Byers scored two goals to pace the Hershey Bears offense, while Pheonix Copley made 28 saves on his 23rd birthday to help the hosts to a 5-2 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday evening in front of 10,405 fans at GIANT Center.

Moments after killing off the Phantoms’ first power play of the game, Tim Kennedy put the Bears in front.  He pressured a Phantoms defenseman at the point with a poke check, and was able to grab the puck and take off on a breakaway.  Three seconds after the power play expired, Kennedy snapped a shot past the blocker of Lehigh Valley goaltender Anthony Stolarz.

The Phantoms would tie the game after the Bears coughed the puck up right in front of goaltender Pheonix Copley.  Andrew Gordon grabbed the puck and beat Copley with a wrist shot at 7:29.

Hershey pulled ahead later in the period, when Kris Newbury had the puck on the right corner goal line.  He fired the puck toward the crease, and Byers was there to chip it through Stolarz at 15:31.

The Bears would earn their first power play of the game after Byers scored, when Zack Stortini was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Chris Conner would convert, going one-on-one with a Phantoms defenseman and then slipping a backhander inside the right post at 16:32 for a 3-1 Hershey lead.

Oliver Lauridsen scored the only goal of the middle period, cutting the Hershey lead to one goal at the 6:55 mark.  Getting himself open at the center point, Lauridsen took a pass from Kevin Goumas and snapped a shot past the blocker of Copley for his second goal of the season.

The Bears would get their insurance marker late in the third.  With 4:32 left to play, Dustin Gazley won a puck battle behind the Lehigh Valley net and quickly fed a pass toward the lower left circle.  Byers was there to grab it and lift the puck over Stolarz.

Gazley finished the scoring by hitting the vacated Phantoms net with 9.6 seconds left to play.

Copley improves to 7-3-1 with the win, while Stolarz made 32 saves but fell to 6-8-1.

The Bears will take to the road to face the Phantoms on Wednesday, January 21 at 7:05 PM.  The game will be televised locally in central Pennsylvania on ABC-27.2, Comcast channel 246, Verizon Fios channel 461, Blue Ridge Cable channel 152, and Kuhn Communications channel 67.  Fans may also catch the game beginning at 6:25 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350 and iHeart Radio (1460 AM).  

The Bears return home to face the Binghamton Senators on Saturday, January 24 at 7:00 PM.  Individual tickets for this and all remaining home games are available at the GIANT Center box office, online at TicketMaster.com or by calling 717-508-BEAR.



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NOTES: D Steve Oleksy was returned on loan from Washington earlier in the day…The Bears scratched C Joel Broda, RW Garrett Mitchell, D Mike Moore, D Nate Schmidt, LW Nathan Walker and D Patrick Wey… The Phantoms scratched D Mark Alt, D Shayne Gostisbehere, C Blair Jones, RW Derek Mathers, D Jesper Pettersson and C Darroll Powe… The Bears finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play and 8-for-8 on the penalty kill… Three stars: 3-Conner, 2-Kennedy, 1-Byers…The home team remains a perfect 3-0-0-0 in the season series…Hershey tied for the most home-ice wins in the league with their 15th tonight (15-5-2-0).